διϋλίζω

From the study of Matthew 23:24

Range of meaning

To filter or strain a liquid thoroughly. The root hulizō means 'to filter, clarify' (from hulē in the sense of sediment), and dia- adds 'through' or 'thoroughly'. It is a kitchen and cellar word, used for clarifying wine and for straining liquids in medicine. In the passive it describes 'filtered' wine.

Against the English

Modern versions say 'strain out', which is accurate. The KJV's 'strain at' is the well-known exception. To a modern ear it sounds like 'strain hard at' (struggle, make a great effort over). The Greek is not about effort. It is about passing liquid through a filter.

How it drifted

The KJV (1611) moved away from Tyndale's and the Bishops' Bible's 'strain out' to 'strain at'. It is often called a printer's error (J. B. Lightfoot argued this in the 19th century), but 'strain at' appears in some earlier writers, apparently meaning 'strain [the drink] when a gnat turns up'. Whichever account is right, the English verb 'strain at' later came to mean 'struggle with', and the line took on a new sense: being fussy over trifles.

Used elsewhere in the period

LXX Amos 6:6 condemns the comfortable elite 'who drink the filtered wine' (hoi pinontes ton diulismenon oinon). The same verb is used there, and also in a context of luxury and blindness to injustice. The Mishnah takes wine strainers for granted as ordinary household gear and discusses whether one may use them on Sabbath or festivals (m. Shabbat 20:1–2). The Damascus Document from Qumran (CD 12:11–15) warns against defiling oneself by eating any creeping creature, 'from the larvae of bees' to things that creep in water. That shows how seriously some Jews of the period took tiny creatures getting into food.